


When You Smile

by BlossomingDia



Series: Addictions [8]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, One Shot, Taeyong is Supportive, taeyong is a good leader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 05:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20237494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlossomingDia/pseuds/BlossomingDia
Summary: Taeyong walks in on an unexpected scenario and does all he can do to try and fix the problem.





	When You Smile

Taeyong was met with the sound of gentle sobs as soon as he’d entered the dream dormitory. Frankly, he’d come to clean up after his youngest members while they were out to eat -knowing well enough that if he wasn’t there to act as their mother figure there was no way the dorm would ever get cleaned – though his mission was side tracked by the gentle sound of crying that echoed through the dark rooms of the dorm and crept out from under the bathroom door, which glowed as evidence of someone’s presence. 

Gentle, he pushed the door open and audibly gasped at the sight that was laid out inside the bathroom. It was Chenle. Sat on the edge of the bathtub with tear stained cheeks, and a little blade poised to his wrist as if waiting for a moment of bravery to make its mark. “Chenle?” He asked softly as he approached the crying teen and knelt down so that they were eye to eye and he could ease the little piece of metal from his hand, throwing it into the bin without hesitation then pulling the younger member down so that he could cradle him against his chest while he cried. He wept for a full half an hour while Taeyong simply rocked him and tried blink back his own tear at the sight of one of the happiest members of his group being so distraught, and when the others arrived back from dinner, a pleading look had sent them back out the door as quietly as possible as to not disturb Chenle who had cried himself to exhaustion and was sleeping fitfully against Taeyong’s chest. As carefully as he could, he got the boy onto his feet and carried him through to the living room, setting him down on the sofa under a blanket before setting about making something to eat ready for when he woke up. 

Chenle woke up to the smell of meat that drifted in from the kitchen and for a moment only blinked up at the ceiling tiredly then bolted upright to find Taeyong humming lowly as he stirred a pot but he stopped and turned towards the sound, letting his face show relief as he saw Chenle awake on the sofa. 

“Oh good you’re awake!” He said, trying to keep his voice as cheerful as possible as he began to portion up the food “I know that you like ramen, so I used what was in the cupboards to make you something warm to eat...” He handed the boy one of the bowls and settled in next to him to eat. The meal proceeded in near total silence as they ate their way through the pot of ramen then settled back onto the sofa with Chenle lying on his side, allowing Taeyong to stroke his hair gently as the two of them stared at the TV which flickered with a rerun of a drama. 

“Aren’t you going to ask about it?” Chenle asked, voice shaking slightly as he tried to swallow down his nerves. 

“Not unless you’re comfortable talking to me about it. I cant help you if I don’t know what happened, but if you’re not comfortable then I wont push you to talk about it.”

“I-“ He paused “I’ve been having some trouble with some people... at school. They don’t seem to like me very much and to begin with I thought it was because I was new and I was close with Jisung, but I’m not so sure now- they laugh at my accent, and every time I speak they tell me to shut up. When the other’s aren’t around they like to push me, and sometimes they even beat me up and wreck my stuff…” He swallowed quietly and Taeyong could tell that the boy was trying to fight off tears again as he whispered “It just gets too much sometimes.”

He took a moment to process the younger’s words “Have you spoken to anyone about it?”

“No. I figured it would just make them hate me more.” 

“Have you ever… hurt yourself before tonight?” 

The silence stretched for a long moment and Taeyong felt his stomach drop at the implication. “No. I thought about it plenty of times, but I never had the nerve to do it.” 

The elder set him upright, staring him dead in the eyes as he placed his hands on his shoulders and spoke with earnest “I don’t want you to ever feel that you cant talk to me about this kind of stuff Chenle, and I never want you to feel like hurting yourself is the only option. We’ll get through this together, and I’ll help you find some sort of solution to this no matter what we have to do make sure that it never happens again. Does that sound good?” 

“Yeah!” He whispered, pulling his leader into a tight embrace which had Taeyong’s heart lightening as he noticed the slight quirk to the corners of Chenle’s lips. It didn’t matter what he had to do, he would make sure that that smile never faded again.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one inspired by the song Smile, which is a great song by the way. I wasn't gonna write any more for this series until My Prince was done, but here we are! I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!


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